US manufacturer and developer First Solar has sold its 139MW Campo Verde solar project in California to Southern Company subsidiary Southern Power and Turner Renewable Energy.
The purchase, for an undisclosed sum, marks Southern Power and Turner Renewable Energy’s fifth joint solar acquisition and doubles the two companies’ solar generating capacity.
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First Solar will build, operate and maintain the plant, which will eventually generate power for utility San Diego Gas & Electric Company under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Southern Company chairman, president and chief executive Thomas Fanning said: “By acquiring the Campo Verde Solar Project – our largest solar installation to date – we're more than doubling our solar capacity and increasing the diversity of our generation fleet.”
Southern Power and Turner Renewable Energy joined forces in 2010 to work on renewable energy projects, and have since acquired five large-scale solar projects in the US.
The partnership's first acquisition was the 30MW Cimarron Solar Facility, also built by First Solar, in New Mexico. They subsequently acquired the 20MW Apex Solar Facility and the 30MW Spectrum Solar Facility in Nevada and the 2.5MW Granville Solar Facility in North Carolina.
Construction of the Campo Verde began in December last year and commercial operation is targeted for autumn 2013.
